WASHINGTON — Republican hawks and former national security officials are urging President Trump to force Russian President Vladimir Putin back to the negotiating table by using sticks instead of carrots.
The president’s critics warn that suspending sanctions on Russian diesel exports, alienating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and restricting some military capabilities for Kyiv are tantamount to greenlighting Putin’s war against Ukraine.
“Our President has become Neville Chamberlain,” wrote Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) in a post on X, referring to the former British prime minister who practiced appeasement with Adolf Hitler.
“We need a Churchill,” Bacon added, while sharing a post of Trump’s criticisms of Zelensky during the lowest point of their relationship in February 2025.
The stepped-up calls come after renewed Ukrainian attacks on refineries ended a brief energy cease-fire and interruptions in US-provided internet services for Ukraine’s military sparked panic on the battlefield.
“We need peace, but it has to be on terms that demonstrate that you can’t have a power like Vladimir Putin rolling through a European nation,” Mike Pompeo, who served as secretary of state and CIA director during Trump’s first term, said on Fox Business.
“I’ve seen the reports on this Starlink issue. We should make sure that we are providing all the stuff that the Ukrainians need to put pressure on Russia, so they can continue their long-range strikes,” he added.
House and Senate lawmakers have been pressing Trump to get tougher with Russia, rather than Ukraine, and focus on implementing sanctions passed in a bill named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as a tactic toward peace.
“Putin has repeatedly shown that he responds to pressure, not goodwill,” wrote Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) in a bipartisan letter to the president Thursday. “With the October 18 deadline approaching, we again urge you to implement this law fully and faithfully.”
McCaul told The Post Thursday that he was “concerned the recent lifting of sanctions on Russian oil will only fuel the Kremlin’s violence and destruction.”
“In fact, we have already seen Vladimir Putin’s response: continued bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, even after President Trump called for an energy ceasefire. Meanwhile, Russian forces have carried out indiscriminate strikes on civilian targets — injuring and murdering buses full of innocent people, in violation of international law,” McCaul said.
“Putin’s disdain for peace couldn’t be clearer. A full and faithful implementation of our bill is required to cripple his war machine and finally bring him to the negotiating table.”
On Thursday, it appeared US-Ukraine relations had sunk to a new low, as Zelensky openly flouted Trump’s Sunday announcement of a limited truce pertaining to oil facilities.
“The block is out. We’re done,” Zelensky said to the Financial Times during a trip to London after Russia struck Ukrainian power infrastructure.
Ukrainian drones hit a refinery about 180 miles southeast of Moscow on Thursday — defying Trump, who has for weeks unsuccessfully urged the Ukrainian leader to cease attacks on Russian refineries due to their impact on oil and diesel prices ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm election.
Ukraine said this week it did not receive advance intelligence from the US of incoming Russian attacks and that its military has had interruptions in US-facilitated Starshield internet services, a military version of Starlink used for battlefield and drone operations.
Elon Musk, whose company operates the service, said Wednesday that “any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”
Trump on Tuesday denied breaking off routine intelligence sharing with Ukraine and on Thursday two administration officials denied that the president had ordered a throttling of internet services — leaving both matters murky against a clear backdrop of tension with Kyiv.
Four Senate Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Tillis of North Carolina — signed onto a letter Thursday from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-NH) asking Pentagon inspector general Platte Moring to probe the cause of the internet slowdown.
Ukraine’s Charge D’Affaires Denys Sienik said Thursday that “Star Shield speeds have been improved, at the moment. We hope all will be resumed to the previous level.”
“Speed is critical for logistics, and for intercepting the jet-powered Shahed drones especially when Russia constantly uses them to attack our cities and commit war crimes and when Foreign Minister Lavrov openly states that Russia opposes a ceasefire,” added Sienik.
The Pentagon didn’t respond to requests for comment. A source familiar with the speed restrictions said that “one of the most massive Shahed attacks, occurring precisely when our defense system’s speed was being throttled, and the circumstances behind this are deeply concerning.”
“Ultimately, I believe the tipping point for a peace deal will come when Putin finally accepts that the war is unwinnable and his only chance for an honorable exit is through a deal with Trump,” said Fred Fleitz, chief of staff of the National Security Council during Trump’s first term.
“This should be the central theme of any [Steve]Witkoff-[Jared] Kushner negotiations with Putin.”
Zelensky’s resumed refinery strikes and the internet interruption are the latest points of strain with the White House after a tumultuous week of developments.
Last Friday, Trump announced that he was waiving US sanctions on Russian diesel in a bid to lower prices that had nearly doubled over the past year, driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and his own war with Iran. Putin agreed to lift export restrictions he had imposed last year.
Trump made the move in frustration over Zelensky’s drone attacks on Russian refineries. But the change of tactics designed to entice Putin back to the bargaining table horrified critics who said it could provide $4 billion for Putin’s war effort.
Zelensky ripped the diesel deal as “weak” — with Trump retaliating on Saturday by saying “it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” claiming Zelensky “wants to make problems for the world” and “he’d better damn well stop.”
Trump on Sunday announced what he called an “energy cease-fire” between Russia and Ukraine, which Zelensky initially said he would abide by, but publicly stretched the meaning to include all energy targets, whereas the deal only pertained to oil refineries and pumping stations, per a US source.
Zelensky accused Russia of violating the deal by striking natural gas facilities and broke off his participation on Thursday.
Former national security officials in Democratic administrations have also criticized the president’s moves with respect to Ukraine.
“Trump stumbled into an energy crisis due to his unsuccessful Iran war, so he struck a deal for Russian diesel that, ironically, will do little to lower diesel prices but will put money into Putin’s war machine,” said Daniel Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel under President Joe Biden.
“And then, when Zelenskyy did not agree to end strikes on Russian diesel facilities, he used the manufactured crisis as an excuse to weaken Ukraine’s defenses against Russian drones and ballistic missiles,” Shapiro added.
“For Trump, it’s a two-fer: try to lower diesel prices to save his own skin before the midterms, and use more Ukrainian deaths to strongarm Zelenskyy to accept a surrender agreement with Russia so Trump can claim to have ended the war. Neither will work.”
